Protective foot guard



Sept. 3, 1957 N. c. HOLTKAMP ETAL 2,804,700

PROTECTIVE FOOT GUARD Filed Feb. 6, 1956 A EEMAA/ C. H04 T/(HMK? zl/zss rl OPPENHE/M, INVENTORS.

nite tts PROTECTIVE Foot GUARD NormanC. Holtkamp, Pla-ya Del -Rey, and Jules J. Oppenheim; Los Angeles; Calit'.

- This invention relates to a" foot protective guard and particularly to a foot protective guard whichzrnay, be attached to a conventional shoe to protect a toe-or? toes which have been surgically, or otherwiset'reated;

Chiropodists, or physicians or surgeons,- after treating surgical or nonsurgical-conditions of the toes or injuries tothe toes resulting from accidents, find it desirable to protect the toe or toesfrom contact with objects. in order to avoid any pressure'on the treated portion; which pressureimight causepain or further injury to--the=treat= ed-toe. The chiropodist, orphysician or surgeon after treatment of the toes, may permit the" patient tos'be mobile but: desires to avoid any complications which might result from-an object being dropped-on-the portion of the toe which has been treated. orby-reason'of the patient accidentally bumping or'kickingiagairist objects which might damage the treated portion of the" foot; Toeliminate pressure upon the critical portionofthe foot, it is standardoperatingprocedure for the chiropa odist, or physician orsurgeon, to cutawaythat'port'ion of'a patients shoe which covers thetreatedportion and advise the patient to avoidcontact of thetrea ted portion of the foot with anyobjectwhichmighttend to injurevit; Sometimes the chi-rop'odist, or physician or surgeon; places acast or. splint upon" the foot for 1 protective reasons.

Thegeneralrobject of the invention:- is to providea foot-protective guard whieh'has the const'ructionalele ments so arranged and disposed that when attached'to the sole ofashoe'it is-disposed over and'abovew flietoot so that fl16'.tO:0rtoes are'prot'ected fromdnjmy ifan objectis dropped on the-foot orwher'rthe" shoe ac'ei dentally bumps or is-- kicked against: an object? which might otherwise damage or exert pressure against. the foot.

' A further object of. the invention is? to: provide af'foot protective guard which is readily and quickly" attached to and detachedtroma conventional shoe:

A further object of the invention is-to-provide afoot protective guard whichmay be worn' by apatient 'whose foot has been surgically or non surgicall'yi tteatd,- par ticularly the toe-or toes, over a shoe which-has a'cut-out portion over the treated portion which willvnotzinterfere with the walking; of-the patient nor impairi thefiexibili=t y of-theshoe;

Another object of the inventiorris toprovide' a rotective'zfoot' guardwhichW-ili' b'ereliably and] effectively retained in properprotectiveposition on the shoe ofth'e wearer during Walking. g

A still further object of the invention is to rovide--21 foot protective guard which is light in weight, simple and inexpensive to manufacture and is of unitary construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide afoot protective guard which may vb'e used to protect a portion of a patients foot.

A still further object of' the invention is to provide atent 2,84,7fiii Patented Sept. 3, 1957 2 a footprotective guard which may be used' to protect all of .thetoes on a patients foot.

In the. accompanying drawings, we have illustrated, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, a specificembodiment of our invention. In such draw ings, Fig. l isaperspective view of the guard on a shoe to protect. the fifth digit; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the front portion ofa shoe with the guard in place to be positioned onthe shoe;'Fi'g.- 3'is a fragmentary detail view showing the eyelet or loop portion of: the guard with a shoestring positioned within the eyelet or loop to removably secure'the guard to the shoe; Fig; 4 is. a fragmentary detail view, partly in cross-section; of the end portion of: a rod member orpinhavin'g-barbs thereon: positioned. withinan. opening in the sole of a shoe; Fig. S-is a top plan view of the guard on a shoe of ashape to fit overthe entire fore part-of a'shoe to protect all of themes; and Fig; 6 is a-perspective'view of the front portion ofthe shoe shown'in'Fig. SWith the guard in place tobe positioned on the shoe.

Referring-more particularly to-the drawings; in which similar reference characters identity similar parts in the several. views, 10 designatesa shoe which -hasliad" a portionof the-fore part'of the shoe cut 'over tliefifth digit.leaving an. opening. The protective foot guard is designatedgenerally as 1-1. The protective foot guard 11, in the embodiment shown-- in Figs. 1- through'4', is designedto protect-the fifth digit of a patient, which toe hasbeensurgically orotherwise treated. The protective toe.guard=11-isconstructed by forming"; shaping and se curing-- together, such as'by welding} a number ofrocl orbar elements.- Rods; such'as bronze; steel, plastic, or any suitable resi-lient material of sufiicientstrength may be used to-form the protective foot guard" 11. To con struct. the embodiment illustrated iriFigs. 1 and 2; an arched rod 12 is shaped 'substantially'parallel to and conforming to theshap'e of the sole 13-of the shoe" I01 Rigidly secured, suchas'byweldin'g, to thearched rod 12 is asecond rod-14'a'rched upwardlyand rearwardly and rigidly secured, such as'by welding, to ancyelt or loop 15. The eyelet or loop 15 may be formed of'the same. material as the rods or-the rod-14-m'ay be looped to--form-theeyelet 15. Adjacent theother end of the arched-rod: 12 is rigidly secured; such as by? welding; a; third arched rod 16; which is Y arched upwardly and rigidly, secured; suchas by welding, to the eyelet or loop 15'. If desired the eyelet- '15 may be 'formed by looping the rod 16. The-lower extremity of the second rod '14is bent inwardly. to form-theretaining pinfl. The'lower extremity of: the third rod* 16 is bent inwardly" to" form the retaining-pin 18: The a-rchedrod-IZ, the second rod 14. and .the third redid form a framework within which are rigidly secured, suc-h as by-Welding, a plurality of arched rods 19 forming a latticeworlc. The arched rods 19 areshaped-to conform to the portion of the fore part of the shoe elll-over whichthe protective guard' 11 is adapted. tobeworn;

Theretaining pins-17 and 18 are adapted to fit into openings-20 and- 21, respectively; whichare holes of suitable length drilled-or otherwise-termed into the sole 1310f theshoe 10: We prefer tohave the *holes approximately. one-and one=quarter inches in-depth. The eyelet or. loop,15 .isadapted to have the shoe-*lace" 22 tied thereto, as shown most clearly in detail in-Fig-.' 3.

Wehavediscovered thatthe protectivefo'ot guard or shield/11: shown in Figs. 1 and-2; will remain effectively place. duringyordinary ambulatory activity cit a patient whenthe-retaining pins-17 and 18- are fitted into-the openings .20 and- 2 1 of the sole -13 of theshoe-IO and the shoe lace:2 2Iis. tied. to the eyelet or=loop 15; withoutthe necessityof any locking device. Thisis-dueto'the resil i'ent character of the materials used, the depth of the holes 20 and 21, and the length of the retaining pins 17 and 18. We prefer to have the retaining pins 17 and 18 of at least the length equal to the depth of the openings 20 and 21. However, if it is desired to secure the protective foot guard 11 more or less permanently to the shoe 1%), we may provide barbs 23 on the retaining pins or prongs 17 and 18 to more rigidly retain the retaining pins 17 and 18 in the openings 20 and 21, respectively of the sole 13 of the shoe 10. This is shown in Fig. 4 in which the barbs 23, after insertion of the pin 17 in the opening 20, dig into the material of the sole 13 preventing dislodgment of the protective guard, even when subject to relatively strong dislodging force. If desired, we may glue the retaining pins 17 and 18 in place within the openings 20 and 21.

In Figs. and 6, we have shown another embodiment of our invention in which designates a shoe which has had the entire toe covering portion of the shoe cut out therefrom. Such a cut-out may be required in cases where the chiropodist, or physician or surgeon desires that all possible pressure from the shoe on the toes be removed. The protective guard, designated generally as 11, illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, is adapted to cover the entire toe portion of the shoe and is constructed of rod elements similar to the embodiment described in Figs. 1 through 4. To form the embodiment shown in Figs. 5 and 6 a resilient rod or bar 24 is arched transversely of the sole 13 of the shoe 10. Rigidly secured, such as by welding, to the transverse rod 24 and normal thereto is a second rod 25 shaped substantially parallel to and conforming to the shape of the left side of the sole 13 of the shoe 10. A third rod 26 is rigidly secured, such as by welding, to the transverse rod 24 and normal thereto, the rod 26 being shaped substantially parallel to and conforming to the shape of, the right side of the sole 13 of the shoe 10. The rods 25 and 26 converge at the anterior or tip portion of the sole 13 of the shoe 10 at 27 where the said rods are rigidly secured together, such as by welding. If desired a single rod may be shaped to form the elements 25 and 26. A plurality of arched rods 28 are then secured in spaced relationship by welding to said transversely arched rod 24, the rods 28 converging forwardly to the anterior or tip portion of the shoe 10 at 27, where they are rigidly secured together, such as by welding.

To secure the protective guard 11 to the shoe in spaced relationship above the cut-out portion of the shoe 10, the rod 24 has its two lower extremities bent inwardly to form the retaining pins 29 and 30. The retaining pins 29 and 30 are adapted to fit into openings 31 and 32 respectively, which are holes of suitable length, such as approximately one and one-quarter inches in depth, drilled or otherwise made into the sole 13 of the shoe 10. At the anterior portion or tip of the shoe 10, at 27, one of the rods 25, 26 or 28, may be bent inwardly to form a pin 33. If desired the pin 33 may be a separate rod member welded to the material formed by the juncture of the rods at 27. The pin 33 is adapted to fit into the opening 34, which is a hole of suitable length, such as approximately one and one-quarter inch in depth, drilled or otherwise formed 4 of the digits of the foot. Thus, while Figs. 1 through 4 show our invention to protect the fifth digit, a similar construction may be used, for'example, to protect the first digit by reversing the shaping of the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 through 4.

It will be apparent from the above description that we have provided a novel protective foot guard whereby the foot of the wearer of a shoe is protected from the impact of an object dropped upon the protective device or against which the protective device may be bumped. The resilient material of which the rods are formed may be constructed of suitable material, sutficiently firm to withstand impact. While we have described rod material, heavy wire may be used of sufficient resiliency and strength. If desired the rods or wire may be interwoven to form an appropriate latticework. The protective guard constructed in accordance with my invention is light and is suitable to be fitted to all types of shoes. An added advantage of the protective guard as before described is that free circulation of air is permitted not only because the protective guard is positioned and spaced above the fore part of the shoe but also because of the latticework or barred construction.

As shown most clearly in Figs. 1 and 5, our protective foot guard, when attached to a shoe, is positioned over and above the portion of the shoe to be protected, by the pins. If, for example, an object is dropped upon the protective guard, the force of the impact is absorbed by v the resilient material of which the guard is formed and the force is transmitted through the retaining pins to the sole of the shoe, thus avoiding any pressure upon the foot. The same result occurs when the foot is bumped against an object due to the fact that my protective guard is spaced above the fore part of the shoe and supported by the retaining pins positioned within the openings in the sole of the shoe.

We have described our foot guard or shield in connection with shoes which have cut-out portions. It will be understood that our invention may be used with shoes that have not been so cut out. For example, our invention may be utilized as a protective foot guard for use by workers in industrial establishments or factories where there is danger of heavy objects falling upon the foot of a worker, i. e., our invention may be used to convert an ordinary street shoe into a safety shoe. Our invention, consisting of a foot protective guard light in weight is easily secured to an ordinary shoe and will serve to protect that portion of the foot which is most likely to be injured by falling objects, namely the toes. The spaced relationship of my foot protective guard above the fore part of the shoe will withstand impact from heavy objects and transmit the pressure from falling heavy objects to the sole, rather than to the base of the toes as is the case with safety shoe constructions currently in use. The protective foot guard for such industrial use, where it is desired to use the guard on the same shoes as the worker uses for street wear, would not be provided with barbs. Thus the wearer may use his ordinary street shoes, the only operation necessary to utilize my protective guard being the drilling or otherwise making of the necessary by an awl or similar tool into the sole 113 of the shoe 10.

The protective guard 11, shown in Figs. 5 and 6, being 'made of resilient rod material, is easily positioned on the shoe 10 by spreading open the posterior portion of the guard 11, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6, inserting the pin 33 into the opening 34 and allowing the retaining pins 29 and 30 to be snapped into the respective openings 31 and 32. We have discovered that this toe protective guard 11 will remain effectively in place, but we may provide barbs on the retaining pins 29, 30 and 33 to more rigidly retainthe said pins in the openings 31, 32 and 34, respectively. If desired the pins 29, 30 and 33 may be glued in place within the holes 31, 32 and 34, respectively.

The described protective guard, constructed in accordance with my invention, may be formed to protect any holes in the soles of the shoes. Thus our inventive device may be easily and quickly attached when the worker desires to use the protective foot guard and easily and quickly removed from the shoe after the work in the factory has been completed.

While we have described a particular embodiment of our inventive structure, it is obvious that many changes may be made without departing from the spirit of our invention.

We claim:

A foot protective guard extending in spaced relationship over and above the fore part of a shoe and comprising a shaped latticework shield composed of rod material having the general form of the top of the fore part of the shoe and a plurality of integral inwardly extending rod members on the lower edge of said latticework shield 5 at the front and side thereof and adapted to fit into openings provided therefor in the sole of said shoe to detachably retain said guard on the shoe.

References Cited in the file of this patent 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 Baynard Aug. 16, 1932 League Apr. 10, 1934 Chertok Aug. 3, 1943 Purinton Jan. 29, 1946 Null Jan. 20, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS France Aug. 5, 1921 France Nov. 16, 1951 France May 7, 1953 

